Essay On Incarceration

The rapid rise in the incarceration rate over the last four decades has drawn greater attention globally; to the incapabilities of the incarcerated female offenders, and the overflow of these complications into the children’s lives. Whereas, incarceration refers to the restriction of an individual’s freedom in a facility or environment like prisons, jails, and other penal institutions (Alaska. Law, 1997). Millions of children are faced with separation from their mothers due to incarceration. Recent estimates indicated that 1.7 to 2.7 million children have a parent in prison (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2010), and as many as 10 million minor children have been affected by incarcerated parents at some point in their lives (Johnston, 2012). The National
This tends to invoke emotional and conflict-ridden imagery when portraying family relationships; and a greater likelihood of uncertain parent child relationship. Stanton (1980), found that there is high rate in the lack of interest to learn, however , 72% of 168 children of imprisoned mothers displayed poor academic performance and a minimal of 7% had behavioural problems in the class room. Due to the parent’s incarceration these children are teased or ostracized by other children (Jose Kampfner, 1991). As a result of being ridiculed, the high rate of suspensions and dropouts started to increase as they become an adolescent (Eddy Trice, 1997). Majority of these incarcerated parents were unable to provide the basic needs for their children, henceforth, there was no money left behind for the child after
Children (especially girls) are more likely to express themselves to their mothers because a mother would better understand her adolescent transitions than a father. (Wright, L.E. & Seymour, C. B. 2000). Most routine caregiving activities are mostly done by a mothers (Parke, 1996) and are most often the primary caregiver who comforts and protects her child. In contrast, involved fathers teaches the child a sense of industry and competence for handling and adapting to new challenges. Thus, the imprisonment of a child’s mother, especially without the presence of a father, however, this may cause the child to be negatively affected, which leads to social exclusion and greater financial difficulties. Living in poverty is an extreme strain on children whose mothers are imprisoned and fathers are not involved in their lives. They are affected by the stresses and strains of life in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, subsidized housing complexes with high crime rates, poor nutrition and an ever present sense of want. Growing up in the context of poverty is already a challenge, even without the added stress of